Gay Charlotte and LGBTQ Carolina News, Arts & Entertainment
In honor of African-American History Month, qnotes is profiling a few of the Carolinas’ LGBT African-American history-makers and thought leaders who have shaped our community for the better, including first-ever political leaders, a community advocate and writers lifting and highlighting important voices and issues.
Jermaine Nakia Lee, a longtime African-American and LGBT community leader in Charlotte, was honored in January with the city’s annual award named in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Back to 2015 African-American History Month Index… LGBT African-American leaders in North Carolina have been among the historic firsts that have helped push politics and government to more inclusive atmosphere. From the state level to the local level, black gay North Carolinians have made their visible presence and their voices known. LaWana Mayfield Elected to her …
Nearly two years ago, an iconic era in southern LGBT voice and visibility came to an end. Durham’s Pam Spaulding, keeper of the wildly popular blog Pam’s House Blend, took of her blogging cap and traded it for time with family and personal passions.
In the middle part of the last decade, Columbia’s Alvin McEwen was in the process of writing a book. He’d wanted to track the actions and movements of the anti-LGBT religious right and document them. The book publishing was slow, and a friend, he said, suggested he start a blog. And so, his blog, Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, launched in 2006.
Clay Aiken, who ran against Republican incumbent Renee Ellmers for a congressional bid in 2014, is the centerpiece of a new documentary set to premiere on Esquire Network in April.
Organizers say they expect as many as 1,300 or more people to fill the Charlotte Convention Center’s ballroom for the annual Human Rights Campaign North Carolina Gala on Feb. 21, bringing with them a bevy of well-known speakers, entertainers and award winners.
In the past year or two, it seems to me I’ve written and read more about transgender people and the issues still at the heart of their experiences than ever before. This increasing rate of discussion, debate, examination, awareness and activism can be properly credited to the brave people who are stepping out, standing up and speaking with fortitude.
For 1.6 million North Carolinians, the worst part of job searching is not the interview, but the moment they drop off the application. Nearly every employment application contains a small box on the front page that reads, “Have you ever been convicted of a crime?”
I’ve had a lot of colorful adventures on my journey. Some were cartoon strips, like the humor I had to find within the pain of trauma, and others were Oscar winning sagas, like surviving a dysfunctional childhood and watching cancer take out a third of my family in a five-year-period.
